


Oh, Simple Thing

by VeritasEtVita



Category: Adam Levine (Musician), Christina Aguilera (Musician), The Voice (US) RPF
Genre: AdamTina, Angst, Canon Compliant, Canon Universe, F/M, RPF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-25
Updated: 2015-02-25
Packaged: 2018-03-15 00:55:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3432083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeritasEtVita/pseuds/VeritasEtVita
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Season 5 of The Voice had come to an end, but neither Christina nor Adam are ready for closure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oh, Simple Thing

**Author's Note:**

> Hello.
> 
> This was meant to be a short, flashfiction/challenge type of piece to put on Tumblr, but... it ended up a little longer.

Christina thought she was going to relax during break in-between filming the finale for _The Voice_ ; maybe grab a snack or a sip of water.

 

Instead, she followed Adam Levine out of the main studio, into somewhere unfamiliar. If it had been anyone else, she would have felt a little anxious, but this was Adam—he would protect her and defend her, like he always did.

 

But today, he was different.

 

He had led her down a corridor, and then another that was darker than the first. Then he rounded a corner, spotlighted by a single bulb hanging alone from the ceiling. It was a very secluded spot, she observed. She couldn’t even hear anyone else from the studio. It was just her and him.

 

He stared at her when they stopped, brows furrowed and a small frown gracing his features. That expression didn’t suit him. Adam wasn’t the brooding type, and she was glad for that fact.

 

“Adam?” Christina spoke up curiously, and managed a half-smile. “Dark corners are unlike you.”

 

“Can we talk?” he asked.

 

“What’s wrong?” Suddenly, she found her heart beating out of her chest. Part of her knew why they were there, but another didn’t want to believe anything; not with him.

 

He swallowed. “I... I need to see something,” he said nervously, hastily, before cupping her face and leaning in.

 

Their lips touched, and to her dismay, there was _something_ there. Sparks, flutters, and heat between them—just like in the songs they’ve both sung about.

 

In a moment of greed, she gave in, deepening their kiss, running her hands past his chest, upward into the hair at the nape of his neck. He responded by wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing her against him.

 

After all of these years, she realized then just how deeply she cared for him. She maybe even loved him—more than she admitted outwardly on the show or in the coaches’ downtime. And that feeling for him only broke her heart.

 

The more logical of the two, she was the first to break from the kiss, breathless but teary-eyed. “We can’t do this,” she whispered.

 

She cared about her boyfriend Matt. She loved him, too.

 

But regretfully, not as much as she loved Adam.

 

The warmth around her slipped away, reluctant. “I know,” he replied sadly. “I just—”

 

“Do you love her?” she questioned, almost fearing the answer. “Do you love Behati?”

 

“Yes,” he admitted. “But she’s not you, Christina.”

 

She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I’m the same. Matt... he isn’t _you_.”

 

She felt his thumb against her cheek, rubbing away a falling tear. “Is it too late?” he wondered.

 

He was engaged, and her own relationship was not broken or unstable by any means. The two of them were just in the midst of a selfish moment; two people who realized only now what they could have had. This was their only time to relish it before it could be gone forever.

 

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “Can you take back an engagement? Can you break her heart? Can I break off a relationship that was never broken in the first place, just out of the blue?”

 

“ _Can_ isn’t hard,” he said. “But will we?”

 

She wanted to. But would it get easier or harder if she turned away from Adam now? She wished that their relationship was as easy as a Beatles song; that she could just hold his hand and simply _love_.

 

Suddenly, her phone vibrated, like a hard nudge or kick back into reality. She forgot that it wasn’t truly her and him under this light; there was a whole studio audience, crew, her colleagues, and _the public_ , a few hallways away.

 

 _No,_ she decided then and there, albeit with a very heavy heart. _We won’t. I won’t._

 

Christina and Adam were not simple; time complicated what they had and now they were too late. It would be unfair for them to be anything now; they each had a loved one waiting for them.

 

She reached into the back pocket of her jeans. She examined the new text message with a frown.

 

“We should get back,” she said quietly, unable to look at him. “They’re starting soon.”

 

Christina moved first, her heels clicking in a somber rhythm as she walked past him.

 

Adam stayed where he was for a moment longer before following suit, staring at the tiles like they would give him answers.

 

 

THREE MONTHS LATER...

 

 _This should have been harder_ , she thought curiously, bringing her cup of coffee to her lips.

 

A month passed since she finally broke things off with Matt, and despite her love for him, she did not feel as broken-hearted as she should have been. Things had gone well between them, but things were also growing stale. There was no future with him.

 

She was lonely sometimes, but nothing she hasn’t experienced or couldn’t handle. She had plenty of friends—women who could keep her mind off of men, because really, she didn’t need one to keep her happy. Although, it helped; sometimes.

 

In the background, she heard Max turn on the television, probably to search for afternoon cartoons.

 

_“Next on Entertainment Tonight, Adam Levine—”_

 

It has been months since she spoke to him last. While the subject of Matt did not hurt her much, the subject of Adam did.

 

Christina turned to her son, about to ask him to change the channel, but the next words made her freeze.

 

_—single as of two weeks ago, having split from Beha—”_

 

Max, very much unaware of his mother’s eyes glued to the television, finally changed the channel just then and plopped himself onto the couch.

 

However, the fragments of the news blurb haunted her long after that.

 

-           

 

It wasn’t until three weeks after that when something actually happened, when she caught the sound of muffled music coming from her purse. She sometimes customized ringtones for individual friends, and she hasn’t heard this one in ages.

 

 _I don’t mind spending every day..._ _out on your corner in the—_

 

“Is it true?” were the first words to tumble out of her mouth when she answered.

 

“Yes,” Adam replied softly on the other end.

 

She wanted to cheer with happiness, but so much doubt and hesitation crossed her mind that she remained motionless in her kitchen, one hand with a clammy, iron grip on her phone, and the other squeezing the corner of the island counter until her knuckles turned white. “And now....” she murmured, unsure of how to reply.

 

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t jump on this so soon, but I...” He cleared his throat. “Christina, I missed you.”

 

“Adam—”

 

“I missed you when the season ended,” he rushed on, “when I went back to _her_ , when I sing with the band, when I go to sleep thinking how much of a _fucking mistake_ it was to leave you and me alone.”

 

She missed him, too, which was why she spent every waking minute trying _not_ to think about him—all in vain.

 

“It’s only too late if you let it go,” he continued, answering the question he asked months ago. He sounded surer of himself. “I’m _making_ it the right time for us, Christina. If you’ll have me.”

 

“I'd rather we talk about this in person, Adam,” she said. She wanted to see the truth in his eyes, the intense stare she remembered from the dark hallway at the show. She wanted to re-familiarize with him, to know that she wanted him now as much as she did back then. His voice wasn't enough.

 

“Then open the door.”

 

She didn’t even think about it. Her feet were already rushing out of the kitchen, past the living room. She skidded clumsily in the foyer but sought balance from the door, falling against it as she unlocked it with record-breaking expertise.

 

She pulled the door open. Christina was normally pretty graceful, but she was not here; not under Adam’s hopeful brown gaze.

 

Sadly, “I don’t date celebrities,” was the first thing she said. Out of nerves or autonomy, she didn’t know, but either way, she was embarrassed. It was the second time in less than five minutes something stupid burst from her lips. She honestly thought she could hold herself together around Adam.

 

Fortunately, he had the gall to smirk at her. “Well, you will now.”

 

She tried to bite back a smile. But he looked so beautiful and earnest that she let it slide.

 

Adam closed the distance and tilted his head downward. His lips were grazing hers before…

 

“Wait,” she interjected. “Adam—”

 

“Come on, Christina!” he protested softly, cupping her cheeks like he did back in that dark, gloomy hallway; with love and need. “I’ve been waiting too long for—”

 

“Sing me a Beatles song,” she breathed, reaching up to grasp the lapels of his jacket.

 

“ _What?_ ”

 

“ _I Want To Hold Your Hand_ , Adam,” she said, leaning her body into his. She closed her eyes. “It’s your blind audition.”

 

“Weirdo,” he retorted. “But fine.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“ _Oh yeah, I tell you something_ ,” he sang under his breath. “ _I think you’ll understand_ …”

 

She smiled, and then felt a kiss against the apple of her cheek.

 

“ _When I say that something_ ,” he continued, “ _I want to hold your hand_ …”

 

Right on cue, Christina felt his hands grab hers from his jacket, wrapping them around his waist.

 

“ _Now let me hold your hand… I want to hold_ —oh, fuck it.”

 

He crashed his lips upon hers.

 

She giggled into the kiss, responding in kind, with burdens off her shoulders and her heart fluttering like wings. She was weightless, and it was the most wonderful feeling—to have a love that was simple again.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> To be honest, I didn't know where to go with this thing after around 2 pages in. I didn't want to draw it out too long and have it become boring, but I didn't want it to be too short and seem abrupt. But I did what I did. *shrug* I hope you all enjoyed.
> 
> I did not take a lot of time to edit this, so I apologize for any errors or any rushed-ness.


End file.
